The  Biltmore 


NEW  YORK 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2013 


http://archive.org/details/biltmoregustavbaOOhubb 


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THE       B     I  L 


T    M     O      R  E 


Avery  Architectural  and  Fine  Arts  Library 
Gift  <>i  Si  vmoi  r  B.  Di  rsi  Old  York  Lihrary 


GUSTAV  BAUMANM 

President 

JOHM  McE.  BOWMAN 

Vice-President 


Vanderbili  and 
Madi  s  on ^Venue; 

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A  LITTLE  JOURNEY  TO  THE  BILTMORE 

£y  ELBERT  HUBBARD 


 1     'VE  BEEN  to  a  hotel.  (H.I  thought  I  had  seen  hotels 

I before,  but  no\tf  I  know*  I  hadn't. 
^The  Biltmore,  in  New  York  City\  is  a  hotel  that  is 
individual,  distinct,  peculiar,  unique  and  unforgetable. 

1  I  have  onh?  one  criticism  to  make  concerning  it,  and 

that  is,  it  exhausts  m$  stock  of  adjectives.  Usually 
you  describe  a  thing  h$  saying  it  is  like  something 
else,  but  this  time  comparisons  are  of  no  avail,  words 
falter  and  language  reaches  its  limit. 

Usually,  when  we  think  of  a  big  hotel,  we  think 
of  a  place  of  hustle  and  bustle,  where  crowds  congre- 
gate, butlers  butt  for  baggage,  porters  call  trains,  clerks 
clang  bells,  bellhops  hop,  and  an  orchestra  bangs  out 
the  "Miserere." 

In  first-class  hotels  there  are  dazzling  chandeliers,  gaud^y) 
pictures,  mouldings  made  in  imitation  of  classic  carvings, 
overhanging  balconies,  and  ceilings  bespangled  with  painted 
extravagance  everywhere  writ  large.  You  think  of  the  phrase 
of  Ralph  Waldo  nmerson :  "The  riot  of  the  senses  to  be  found 
in  our  first-class  hotels."  I  would  not  apph?  such  a  cheap 
phrase  as  "first-class"  to  (The  Biltmore  —  it  is  more  than  that, 
it  is  ^The  Biltmore. 


'T'HE  BILTMORE  tokens  a  ne\C  time.   (H.The  opening  of  tKis 
hotel  is  an  epoch.    (H.We  are  living  in  a  new*  age  and  if  you 
want  to  realize  this  fact  just  visit  this  wonderful  hostelry. 

If  you  arrive  from  New*  England  or  upon  the  New*  York  Central 
lines,  the  ease  with  which  you  can  go  to  Qlie  Biltmore  will  be  the  first 
thing  that  gives  you  a  thrill  of  delight.  You  eliminate  cab  drivers, 
taxis,  guides,  and  the  slogan,  "Safety  First,"  is  superfluous.  You  cross 
no  streets,  run  into  no  congestions  of  traffic. 

When  you  alight  from  your  train  at  the  Grand  Central  Station, 
you  hand  your  bag  to  a  Red  Cap  and  say,  "OKe  Biltmore."  In 
about  half  a  second  you  are  deposited  in  a  luxurious  elevator,  and  in 
what  seems  to  be  half  a  second  more  the  elevator  stops,  and  you  are 

in  the  office  of  ^The  Biltmore. 

How  did  you  get  here?  It  is  one 
of  the  modern  mysteries. 

If  you  come  to  Kiev?  York  by*  other 
routes  than  those  named,  the  location 
of  tThe  Biltmore  is  so  central  that  you 
are  but  a  few  moments  from  station 
or  ferry.  Traveling  on  a  railroad  train 
will  some  day*  be  a  thing  of  the  past; 
the})  will  put  us  in  a  lovely  little 
stateroom  in  a  pneumatic  tube,  and 
somebody  will  press  a  button  and 
before  you  can  read  your  magazine 
your  journey*  will  be  completed. 

So  you  step  into  an  elevator 
at  the  Grand  Central  and  the 
elevator  goes  up  and  you  do  not 
realize  when  it  stops  and  ceases 
to  travel  perpendicular  and  begins 
to  travel  horizontally. 


fi.VOT5^|l'iifl!!L 


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LJERE  is  where  your  senses  plaj)  you  false,  and  as  for  myself,  I 
haven't  worked  it  out  yet;  I  onl})  know"  that  I  said  "Biltmore"  to 
a  bright-faced,  dark-complexioned  lad  and  he  put  me  in  an  elevator 
and  I  arrived  in  the  office  o  fOtie  Bilt  more. 

There  was  no  fighting  for  nvp  baggage,  no  anxiety),  no  jostling.  At 
the  office  of  OTie  Biltmore  there  was  no  crowding  around  the  desk, 
because  one  clerk  does  not  wear  his  nerves  to  a  frazzle  trying  to  take  care 
of  all  the  guests ;  you  can  register  at  one  of  several  places.  The  office  is 
beautiful  through  its  absence  of  gilt,  gold,  glare  and  gaudy  fussiness. 

Brass  buttons  were  not  the  most  prominent  feature  on  the  raiment 
of  the  bellboys.    The  clerk  wore  no  diamond  pin;  I  really^  do 
not  remember  how  he  looked — he  faded  into  the  landscape  like  a 
brown  thrush  in  the  autumn  foliage. 

The  lights  of  the  corridors  and  office  were  soft,  w'arm,  evenly 
distributed  and  that's  another  thing  I  didn't  know  and  don't 
know  yet — is  where  that  light  came  from.  And  I  found  this 
wonderful  lighting  was  in  all  of  the  rooms,  in  the  hallways  and 
even  in  the  elevators. 

This  country  is  certainly  passing  out  of  the  pioneer  stage — the 
stage  of  hustle  and  bustle,  rush  and  crush,  ram  and  jam. 

(The  Bilt  more  is  so  arranged  that  there  is  no  congestion 
or  crowding  in  any  of  the  hallways,  elevators,  restaurant, 
palm  court,  grill  rooms,  cafes  or  buffets. 
Here  is  revealed  the  genius  of  the     ,  i 


architects,  Warren  &  Wetmore,  who 


have  designed  many 
of  the  structural 
wonders  of  New 
York,  and  they 
have  fairly  surpassed 
themselves  in  The 
Biltmore. 


4m 


mmm,  las 


j  WAS  told  tkat  there  were  in  the  hotel  when  I  was  there  over 
three  thousand  people,  but  I  ran  into  no  crowd.    The  whole  place  is 
noise-proof  and  dustproof.    It  is  run  on  rubber  tires  with  ball  bearings. 

^The  Biltmore  is  perfectly  ventilated,  the  air  in  every  room  and 
hall  being  replenished  every  few  moments,  and  this  without  the  open- 
ing of  windows.  The  air  that  comes  into  your  room  is  washed  as  if 
by  a  summer  shower,  warmed  or  cooled  to  a  certain  temperature 
before  it  is  sent  on  its  journey",  and  no  matter  what  the  weather  is 
outside,  here  it  is  always  May"-time. 

The  great  room  called  the  restaurant,  the  gentlemen's  cafe,  the 
grill  room  and  peace-impelling  lounge  are  all  outside  rooms,  w^here 
the  light  from  the  out-of-doors  enters,  and  this  is  true  of  ever?  one  of  the 
thousand  rooms  in  the  house. 

Electricity"  has  never  been  used  so  thoroughly  as  it  has  in  this 
building,  so  I  am  told  by  one  of  the  great  engineers  of  the  \v>orld. 
We  speak  of  a  building  being  wired  for  electric  lights,  but  here  is 
the  only"  building  in  the  world  that  is  completely"  wired  for  service. 

There  is  in  the  office  of  the  hotel 
an  arrangement  which  shows  when  a 
servant  is  at  work  in  any"  room.  And 
it  is  a  rule  of  the  hotel  that  a  guest  is 
never  sent  to  a  room  when  one  of  the 
servants  is  there.  This  is  arranged  by" 
a  little  system  of  flashlights. 


I  ^HERE  is  tKe  tel-autograpK  system,  wkick  conveys  written 
messages  from  one  part  of  tke  kotel  to  anotker,  tke  dictapkone 
system,  and,  of  course,  tke  regular  telepkones,  by  xtfkick  you  can  talk 
to  tke  office,  to  tke  city,  or  to  Buffalo,  Ckicago,  Boston  or  St.  Louis 
at  will  from  your  room.  In  addition,  you  talk,  of  course,  to  any  otker 
guest  in  tke  kotel  tkat  you  care  to. 

Tkere  are  pneumatic  tubes  tkat  carry  laundry  bundles  and  a 
vacuum  cleaning  service  tkat  picks  up  tke  dust  and  carries  it  out. 

Every  known  device  kas  been  installed  by  wkick  dust  is  kept  out 
of  tke  kotel,  and  a  scientist  of  note  tells  me  tkat  tke  atmospkere  in 
any  of  ^Tke  Biltmore  rooms  —  office,  dining  room,  buffets,  retiring 
rooms  or  bedrooms  —  would  skow  a  far  greater  purity  from  tke  microbes 
of  dust  and  bacteria  of  disintegration  tkan  outside  air,  even  in  tke 
country,  unless  it  were  immediately  after  a  great  fall  of  snow.  Tkus 
it  really  looks  as  if  wken  we  want  to  get  absolutely  sanitary  conditions 
in  future,  we  will  kave  to  go  to  tke  city  and  not  to  tke  country*. 

^Tke  Biltmore  Hotel  is  tke  last  word  in  kotel  creation.  It  is  tke 
last  wkite  milestone  on  tke  road  to  progress.  It  con- 
tains every*  betterment,  every  improvement,  ever? 
device  for  comfort  and  convenience  tkat  any*  and  all 
tke  best  kotels  of  America  or  Europe  kas,  and  none 
of  tkeir  disadvantages.  Tken,  it  kas  many*  advan- 
tages of  its  own. 


I  "HE  big  work  of  tke  world  Kas  always  engaged  tke  genius  of  tke  biggest 
men.    Wken  war  was  tke  most  important  tking  in  tke  world  tke  big 
men  were  warriors,  and  so  ancient  kiston?  swings  around  tke  men  wko  could 
kill  and  destroy)  most.  Time  goes  on,  and  we  find  tke  big  men  of 
tke  world  are  painters  or  sculptors;  men  like  Mickael  Angelo,  wko 
was  tke  biggest  intellect  of  kis  time.    Also,  comes  Leonardo  Da 
Vinci,  scientist,  engineer,  arckitect  —  writing  poetry,  painting  pic- 
tures, modeling  statuary.    And  about  tke  same  time  in  different 
parts  of  tke  world,  tkere  were  men  explorers.    Tke})  sailed  tke 
seas  in  searck  of  unknown  skores;  and  we  kave  Columbus  turning 
tke  prow*  of  kis  caravel  to  tke  West,  and  persistently  sailing  on 
and  on.    Tken  comes  La  Salle,  Marquette,  Joliet,  fired  witk  relig- 
ious zeal — men  intent  on  doing  a  work  never  before  attempted. 

But  toda^  tke  great  modern  propkets  are  arckitects,  electricians, 
builders,  railroad  men,  manufacturers,  distributors.  He  wko  writes 
tke  kistory^  of  our  time  must  deal  witk  tkese. 

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TN  THE  building  of  ^The  Biltmore  vJe  find  tKe  combined  genius  of 
^  the  greatest  men  of  the  age  collaborating,  and  tke  net  result  is  a  Kome 
for  tKe  traveler  that  is  tKe  safest,  sanest,  most  complete,  convenient  and 
luxurious  institution  ever  tKougKt  out  bj)  Kuman  brains,  and  constructed 
witK  Kuman  Kands.  In  its  furnisKings  and  decorations  it  is  pleasing  to 
tKe  most  KigKl^)  sensitive  and  cultivated  taste,  for  all  of  tKese  tKings  were 
designed  b^  tKe  master  minds  in  such  work,  Messrs.  W.  &  J.  Sloane,  of 
New4  York. 

All  of  tKe  water  used  for  batKing  purposes  is  soft  water,  tKe  water  being 
filtrated  bj)  tKe  Permutit  system,  a  wonderful  device  evolved  bj)  German 
brains  —  tKe  brains  tKat  produce  music,  pKilosopK^  and  scientific  nucleus. 
By"  tKis  system  all  of  tKe  mineral  salts  tKat  ma;9  be  in  tKe  water  are  removed, 
and  notKing  is  added,  so  we  Kave  rain  water  just  as  you  would  catcK  it  in 
tKe  clouds  if  you  went  up  in  a  balloon  and  got  it  for  yourself  before  it  was 
contaminated  h$  tKe  atmospKere.  ^The  Biltmore  is  tKe  first  Kotel  in 
America  to  adopt  tKis  soft-water  system. 


A  LL  LAUNDRY  for  guests  and  house  service  is  done  on  the 
■*  premises  with  soft  water,  which  adds  to  the  life  of  the  fabrics. 
A  beauty)  doctor,  with  whom  I  am  on  pleasant  speaking  terms,  tells  me 
that  this  soft  water  also  adds  greatly  to  the  beauty)  of  the  complexion, 
and  is  absolutely  hygienic,  which  hard  water  is  certainly  not. 

There  are  twenty)-six  stories  in  ^The  Biltmore  Hotel,  but  there  is 
really^  no  choice  in  the  rooms,  so  far  as  altitude  is  concerned.  There  are 
a  thousand  bedrooms  and  nine  hundred  and  fifty)  private  baths.  Mo 
wall-paper  of  an})  sort  is  used  in  an})  room  of  this  hotel,  it  having  been 
discovered  that  wall-paper,  while  more  or  less  beautiful,  is  unsanitary). 

All  baseboards  are  marble,  and  the  elevator  shafts  are  solid  stone. 
There  is  a  Louis  XIV  ball  and  banquet  room  on  the  nineteenth  floor, 
seating  six  hundred  people,  surrounded  with  a  royal  suite  of  reception 
and  supper  rooms.  This  ball  room  has  a  gallery)  and  twelve  exits  and 
entrances,  and  is  a  salon  befitting  a  royal  palace.  In  addition  to 
this,  there  is  a  smaller  banquet  and  music  room  on  the  fourth  floor, 
which  would  dazzle  the  eyes  of  an})  one  unaccustomed  to  luxurious 
establishments. 

The  construction  of  the  exterior  of  the  building 
is  such  as  to  permit  on  the  sixth  floor  a  large 
pergola  and  out-of-door  garden,  with  walks,  flower 
beds  and  ornamental  shrubs  —  an  ideal  spot  for 
summer  dining,  amid  floral  surroundings  and  far 
above  the  strident  noises  of  the  city.  This,  like 
the  banquet  hall,  is  supplied  with  an  independent 
kitchen  —  and,  speaking  of  kitchens,  please  note 
that  every)  one  of  these  indispensable  adjuncts 
to  a  hotel  are  above  ground  in  ^The  Biltmore, 
and  not  placed  in  illy-ventilated  cellars,  as  in 
most  hotels. 


MERVE  irritation  is  reduced  to  the  minimum  at  Oke  Bilt  more. 

If  you  like  music  at  your  meals  you  can  go  to  a  dining  room 
where  a  Polish  professor  produces  sweet  symphonies.  If,  like  Richard 
Mansfield,  you  prefer  to  eat  in  silence,  you  are  accommodated.  Some 
philosopher  has  said  that  there  is  a  vast  difference  between  eating 
dinner  and  dining.  So  there  is.  You  dine  at  Qlie  Biltmore.  The 
china  is  unlike  the  usual  hotel  ware  and  more  like  that  which  you 
find  on  a  private  table  of  refinement.  The  napen?  and  the  Gorham 
silverware,  chaste  in  design  and  pattern,  added  to  the  attention  of 
trained  waiters,  all  tend  to  enhance  your  enjoyment  of  the  food, 
which  has  been  prepared  b$  chefs  known  on  both  sides  of  the 
Atlantic.  The  whole  building  is  a  place  of  rest,  quiet  as  the  country, 
beautiful  as  the  Little  Trianon  at  Versailles.  Summer  heat  can  never 
reach  it,  nor  winter's  cold  penetrate  it.  The  tem- 
perature is  that  of  the  North  Temperate  Zone  in 
summer.  Turkish  baths,  a  huge  swimming  pool, 
gymnasiums,  music  rooms,  ball  rooms,  banquet 
rooms,  a  dozen  private  dining  rooms  —  here  are 
accommodations  that  cater  to  ever?  exigency^  and 
condition  of  life. 

Just  to  show"  how  complete  this  place  is,  there  is 
a  hospital  with  an  operating  room,  as  perfect  as 
science  and  invention  can  make  it,  to  take  care  of 
emergency^  cases.    Doctors  and  nurses  are  here, 
people  of  skill  to  look 
after  the  wants  of 
the  guests  that  ma$ 
need  aid. 

m 


I  'HE  average  guest  would  never  know1  anything  about  the  hospital. 
Tou  only"  find  it  when  you  require  it  or  search  it  out.  And, 
while  The  Biltmore  eminently  stands  for  health,  yet  accident  is 
provided  against. 

And  then  there  is  something  more,  because  a  hotel  is  more  than  a 
mass  of  stone  and  concrete  and  a  tangle  of  pipes  and  wires,  and  rooms, 
and  dishes,  and  pictures,  and  statuary ;  yes,  there  is  something  else, 
and  that  is  element  of  human  service.  We  have  been  told  that  cor- 
porations have  no  souls,  but  a  thing  that  hasn't  a  soul  is  dead.  At 
The  Bilt  more  there  is  a  healthful,  friendly"  atmosphere,  a  gentleness, 
a  kindness,  a  courtesy"  and  a  high  intelligence  that  never  obtrudes, 
but  which  is  always  right  there  when  you  need  it.  And  this  friend- 
liness and  devotion  to  human  needs  is  a  quality)  that  you  cannot  omit. 
The  Biltmore,  like  paradise,  is  a  condition  of  mind.  Also,  it  is  an 
environment. 

The  assistants,  clerks  and  help  are  all  picked  men  and  women, 
tried  and  tested,  and  in  order  to  get  this  select  quality"  of  employees 
I  hear  that  the  management  is  paying  more  than  the  average  hotel 
man  pays.  But  in  return  he  gets  a  big  and  undivided  service  from 
his  helpers. 

Some  people  imagine  that  the  prices  at 
The  Bilt  more  are  of  a  kind  that  can  only"  be 
met  by"  royalty.  This  is  a  mistake;  the 
prices — why,  the))  are  just  what  you  have 
been  paying  elsewhere,  when  you  flattered 
yourself  you  were  putting  up  first  class. 


HTHE  BILTMORE  is  practically  a  part  of  the  Grand 
*■  Central  Terminal,  and  the  Grand  Central  Terminal  is 
tke  test  and  most  complete  building  ever  constructed. 

The  palaces  and  temples  of  ancient  Greece  and  Rome 
cannot  be  compared  in  completeness  with  the  Grand  Central 
and  its  "Civic  Center." 

Here  is  a  capital  in  itself — finer  far  than  ever  a  king 
enjoyed.  Some  time  I  am  going  to  take  a  month  and  get 
acquainted  with  the  Grand  Central  Civic  Center.  As  it  is, 
all  I  can  do  now*  is  just  to  put  down  here  a  fev?  little  hints 
about  this  most  complete  of  modern  hostelries. 


The      B  i  1  t  mi  o 


£#H  "  '  "  '  «•«  r  r 
■fc 

■**"*! ' 1 '      •  ■  ■ . 


MC 


AMY  one  who  does  not  know1  ^The  Biltmore  Hotel  is  lagging  bekind  in 
life's  procession.  It  is  a  part  of  the  education  of  ever>)  man  and 
woman  to  knov?  what  the  big  men  of  the  world  are  doing,  and  what  civili- 
zation is  supplying.  Onlj)  thus  are  we  able  to  know"  in  what  direction  we 
are  traveling  and  how*  fast  we  are  moving.  And  so  m$  advice  is  to  ever}) 
citizen  of  America,  or  of  Europe  as  well,  is,  when  you  are  in  New*  York, 
do  not  fail  to  see  Q"he  Biltmore  Hotel.  It  is  a  place  of  safety,  sanity, 
sanitation,  health  and  luxury,  where  use  and  beauty^  blend,  and  the  ideal 
place  for  temporary^  or  permanent  abode.  Here  courtesy,  kindness,  friend- 
ship and  goodwill  smile  you  a  welcome.  You  will  be  glad  when  you  arrive 
at  The  Biltmore ;  you  will  be  sorr>)  when 
you  have  to  go ;  and  you  will  look  forward 
with  fond  anticipation  to  a  return  visit. 


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